I didn't wait for the boat to swing to the ebb tide, bottled out I did, that channel is tortuous. So we meanders this way and that, scanning for the next stick to poke out of the ooze. You can't miss one out unless you really know what you're doing, but we made it out past all the lovely houses towards Slaughden.
Spiders and sparrows were evicted from the sails and, once hoisted, we tootled along rather nicely, the wind 4 - 5 and Tutak likes that.
On past the sneaky masts, passing their whispers to GCHQ.
On past the old Orfordness lighthouse.
Past the sailing club pontoon, half tide and above for access.
The hard at the Short Gull is still usable with care. The stones can be a bit slippery with wellies on.
But we had a wonderful sunset and even better, a fantastic night sky, free from light pollution. The nearest and rather meagre orange glow came from Felixstowe I do believe.
Well if you are going to do the east cost bars you may as well get them over with in one go. Here is a vid of Tutak exiting the Ore, the Weir starboard hand mark come first followed by the Red Oxley, phew, made it again.
Once we had escaped the clutches of the wicked Knolls we headed south for the Deben and a run up to the Rocks.
Short Gull, hmmmn, I could see things I shouldn't be able to see in the Short Gull. And, no, I hadn't been on the wine over dinner. Such was my hurry for my galley chores I had assumed that I was in the Short Gull without actually checking that I was. I was actually in Abraham's Bosom, a far better place I feel.
There are two similar anchorages behind Havergate Island, both on a dog-leg but one has the Butley river joining it and one does not. I was in the one that did but I thought shouldn't, which rather gave the game away. I should also have been able to see these two beauties, still watching over whatever went on over on the Ness.
Having waited for the boat to swing to the incoming tide the river doing funny things round here, we hauled our cabe and headed mainly north into a stiff breeze. Passing the Pagodas we came upon the quay at Orford with the sailing club on the upstream side. With a bit of water it is possible to come alongside their pontoon and water when it is not busy.
Passing through the empty waterski area in the Blackstakes reach of the now Alde we come upon the Martello tower to the south of Slaughden quay.
There are mooring aplenty off the quay and a couple of sails in the water so someone was having a good time. First comes the Aldeburgh yacht club and the one behind is the Slaughden sailing club.
In the middle is Upson's yard with the quay. I remember getting some diesel here a few years back.
And look what's peeking out just here? I wonder if there is another space for another barge.?
The easy bit is over and as we turn to the west and the channel starts to meander its way inland. The gut-way is marked by withies, branches stuck into the mud. Traditionally the unadulterated ones marked the starboard hand. I.E. left with the twigs and maybe the odd fork. Nowadays they may be adorned with a bit of green rag.
The port hand marks are just bare poles, marked mainly now with red plastic of some sort or other.
As the channel narrows the chance of a missing mark increases as vessels can take them out. Missing or miss-identifying a mark means going aground. The rising tide was necessary to re-float Tutak several times. Some of the marks on the upper reaches have lost their top-marks so it is a bit of a gamble as to which side to take. Eventually we managed to make the anchorage at Iken Cliffs.
It being neaps and all that, the journey up to Snape Maltings was considered to be too adventurous. The channel is even more tortuous and the withies even more devious. We have been there before and had a very nice concert, but not this time.
When the boat turns on tomorrows tide we will head back downstream, carefully, as there will be no tide to help us off the mud. It will be a minor triumph should we make it.
Due to the imminent arrival of The Second Grandchild I thought it might be politic to hang around locally for a day or so. Thus I will be able to coo at the swaddled birthling.
With the south easterly wind on the nose the engine was started and we said our goodbyes to the power station.
The wind built to 22 knots and it thundered and lightninged and everything. The late evening sun set in a palette of psychedelic colours. The morning brought the sun back and a rest day was declared. The array of Flexcell Sunslick solar panels was deployed to keep the refrigeration plant operational.
One of the ultra large container ships on Trinity wharfe, Felixstowe.
The classic Harwich skyline from the Sholtey side.
Dropping the ramp outside the Navy yard, Harwich.
The splendid Isis out of Tollesbury, tramping along very nicely.
The harbour pound from whence the pilot boats come.
The Navy yard, Harwich.
The redeveloped Felixstowe wharfe.
The Landguard fort in its many guises.
After the day of rest, spent cleaning, mending and cooking we set off just before noon on the following day. The wind was from the north and in the harbour, blowing 13 knots. A day of sail, yes it's on the nose but I had time. I set the mizzen and would unroll the genoa once outside. We dodged and chugged our way past the big ships and turned northwards once clear of the fort. We had full genny and the mizzen and the wind was delightful, 16 - 22 knots for a couple of hours. But all good things come to an end and the waves built and knocked the bow off and our windward ability was becoming compromised. The faithful Bukh was fired up once more for the run across the bar and up the Ore.
The knolls off the bar, just past the Weir buoy.
The wind chose to kick up again and it was a bit boisterous on the sea reach, I had to shut the forward shed window to avoid wetting the canapays. We found a modicum of shelter in the Short Gull and dropped the hook in time for dinner.
Well the June 1st depart date came and went due to a not very big tide. True enough I wasn't ready anyway. I had no energy and didn't feel up to much. The boat was very much as I had left it since year's return.
I needed to service the engine and change the mounts which had been a problem on last year's journey. One of the threads had stripped and I found the bolt and shims in the bilge. Gaffer tape held the bolt and shims in place for a further 600NM and is still doing the job now! I change the primary fuel filters, the CAV one, regular like as they are cheap as chips. It also shows if there is a potential problem with the fuel. The engine filter only gets changed once every five years, assuming the primary is ok that is. Before the primary there is an agglomerator/sedimentor which collects any water or muck before it gets to the primary. It has a glass bowl and if you shine a torch through it you can check on the cleanliness of the fuel.
Top right with the yellow top is the primary and next to it is the sedimentor. The position of the sea water inlet filter (green pipes on the right) has been changed so that it can be seen at all times from the helm position in the wheelhouse. The anti syphon pipework has also been moved so that it can be seen and monitored from the inside helm too. I have had another failure of the temperature sensor on the engine so now I just feel the pipes and check the clear strainer top instead of waiting for an alarm that may or may not work.
Keeping the beer cold at anchor was a bit of a headache. I managed to find a pair of Flexcell 27W solar panels on ebay. I thought I had a good deal when I saw the retail price.
They are shade tolerant and should keep up with the fridge compressor and maybe a bit more, we shall see.
So Tutak was rather pleased to be fired up for a wee shakedown before victualling and hauling ass up north. I dropped the new enlarged Delta over the front and laid to it for the night while I made and attempt at tidying up from last year. I had an issue with snatching a couple of years ago and have since started using a chain hook and a nice springy nylon line to mitigate. I have also acquired an Angel or Chum, a weight one slides down the chain in an attempt to dampen the pull. I reckon it will be a bit fussy to deploy, especially when the boat is jumping around.
I took the opportunity to move the stainless anchor swivel by putting it inbetween a two foot long 3/8" chain leader and the chain proper. There have been tales of failure of these types of connectors when connected directly to the anchor. A good sideways pull can distort them enough for the fitting to come apart. Fitting a leader takes away any chance of this happening, I hope anyway.
I can confirm that the anchor holds well. The old Delta never dragged but I confess I did manage to distort it a tad by jousting with a harbour wall! After this I thought perhaps I should get another one so I went a size up. Whether this is a good idea or not depends on the size of hernia. It certainly dug in well, very, very well indeed. I went up to a 16kg, it does look big on a 25 footer!
The old laptop was starting to sound like a vintage tractor, imminent drive failure and plenty of blue screens. I managed to salvage nearly all the data and loaded it onto a cheapish HP running Windows 8. I hate W8, my beloved has it on her machine. I find it most awful, however the new computer is a touch-screen and for me that has made all the difference. I now find W8 most intuitive and the boot time is so fast compared to the 4 minute plus I am used to. Anyway the reason for spouting on about this is that I have got a chart package and software on it from
Plug in a USB GPS and Tutak has as second plotter which is independent of Standard Horizon. I placed a lot of faith, particularly in the fog, on that plotter and if it went bad on me I could have been in a pickle. The AIS also plugs in as well. I got a wee connector that allows me to use the ship's VHF antenna with the hand held should the need arise. This is because the main set has packed up and has been packed off to the menders. It was perfect in every way apart from the fact that it would not receive.
Having victualled heavily in Amble with exciting things unheard of in the north we set sail once again southbound and waited for the wind to reach us.
It did and we thundered southwards, urged on by a brisk offshore breeze for mile after mile.
No time to visit Staithes on this outing, the tide was all wrong anyway, maybe next year.
The wind was so good we just had to keep going, past Runswick bay, Whitby, Scarborough, Filey Bay and round Flamborough Head. Enough was enough and we dropped the hook off the South Landing on the southern side of the headland.
It was not easy here as the scend made its way round the headland and tickled Tutak so we picked up the hook and tucked ourselves right in the corner above the clamour of Bridlington and had a most peaceful night.
The morning brought us more wind and we again made all plain sail, racing southwards past the works off Bridlington beach.
More windmills were being planted off the Spurn Head.
The wind drove us southwards still, past the Humber.
Past the delights of Skegness until we reached.....
Gibraltar Point, as made famous by the shipping forecast, where we tucked in behind a sandbank for the night, well part of it anyway.
A four o'clock start had us crossing the Wash until the sun crept over the horizon off the Norfolk coast. The wind still doing its job, what joy.
Onward past Cromer and...
Norfolk's pretty cliffs, the white horses going eastwards with us. The tide had turned by this time but we had the genoa poled out and were still making 3.5 - 4 knots against it.
The wind came more and more ahead as we turned south into the Yarmouth Roads where, once more, we came across the Trinity House Vessel "Galitea".
On past Lowestoft with the wind still in our favour, through the night until the morning brought us off Harwich. A day or so anchored under the old HMS Ganges had us rested for the last thirty or so miles. The wind had forsaken us and the sun vaporised the early mist.
A strange scene as the ribbon of mist made its way down the river Orwell past the cranes of the Port of Felixstowe and the hidden Ultra Large container ships. The crane booms are only lowered if there is a ship underneath. I wonder if they had to suspend cargo handling?
The Northwest Knoll buoy just about had enough energy to nod its greeting to us as we started the engine for the last few miles with barely a ripple on the surface. But what a cracking sail, 360 miles from Perterhead and the wind chuffing all the way, fantastic.
A little under two months and a little over 1600 miles, and a great time was had by all. I wonder what delights 2014 will bring and where we will fetch up? I know one thing, I must leave earlier to get the best of the weather in the higher latitudes.
